Backblaze, unlimited online data backup service provider, today announced the release of their 2.0 version.

Backblaze has been providing “unlimited storage and unthrottled bandwidth” for just $5 per month. According to a blog post by CEO Gleb Budman, the new version — Backblaze 2.0 — “is a performance release that makes the service more unlimited, faster, and even easier to get all your data safely backed up.”

So, what is new in Backblaze version 2.0? The new version has 16 improvements; some of which are the following:

Unlimited file size (a huge improvement from the 9 GB previous limit). Default is still set at 4 GB. Users need to pick the option to backup an unlimited file size from the settings.

Backup any file type – “now you can backup VMware, Parallels, and other virtual machines; as well as ISOs and every single other file type.”

Added Automatic Throttle to maximize the efficiency (by default it is set to “Automatic Throttle” for new installs. However, “customers that update from an existing version will keep the settings they have on their current installation. Thus, for example, if you had your settings as “Manual Throttle”, you will still be on “Manual Throttle” unless you turn on “Automatic Throttle”.)

Existing users who want to install the new version can navigate to the company’s website and upgrade immediately. Backblaze will automatically upgrade existing customers’ to the new version “over the next few weeks”. Of course, new users will be downloading the new version effective today.

Backblaze has many great features. One of my favourites is the “Locate My Computer”, a free feature service, to find your computer if it is lost or stolen.

In a tech forum today, a visitor asked: “Would I get a knock on the door if I had [backed up] all my TV shows [to Backblaze]“? CEO Gleb Budman answered, “We’ve got users storing 20+ TB of data with us. An average 1 hour TV show is 300 MB. That means, if you backed up 70,000 hours of TV shows, you still wouldn’t be our largest customer”.

I am not sure if these power users, with 20 TB of data, are personal or business users, but I wonder how Blackblaze makes any profit with just $5 a month ($50 per year, after $10 discount for a 1 year sign up). Yes, Backblaze has been in business for about 4 years now, and it was almost acquired in August 2010. Perhaps, its lean style of management and development has contributed to its success; for instance, Backblaze has built 135 TB of storage pods, in house, for just under $7,400 – a fraction of what it would cost if bought from traditional storage vendors.

I hope Backblaze won’t discontinue the unlimited backup service in the future, just as Mozy did earlier this year. However, it looks like that Backblaze is committed to providing unlimited data backup, according to this post: http://blog.backblaze.com/2011/02/03/backblaze-is-committed-to-unlimited-backup/